It could be worse…

I don’t know a thing about Blackhawk, Colorado, but it sounds like the casino there attracts a lot of dangerous drivers. Bicycles are banned on some city streets in the name of “safety.” Break the law by bicycling and you’ll face a fine of $68 greenbacks.

“If you go down Main Street there is not much room for a bicyclist, a bus or a car, a truck,” said Mike Copp, Blackhawk city manager. “We are trying to promote safety.

“There are signs posted in several spots around town that show a bicycle with a circle around it and a line across it; however if people miss it and didn’t read the section in the local newspaper talking about Blackhawk’s new law, most would have no clue riding in spots is illegal.

“Most of the business owners didn’t even know about it,” said Webb. The city manager said the casino owners knew about the law and support it.

“It’s a choice,” said Copp. “We made our choice and now the bicyclist need to make his or her choice.” For Webb and her friends, their choice is clear. They will no longer ride through Blackhawk.

Eight people were ticketed the weekend of June 5.

Copp recommends riders bike around the city or dismount and walk the bike through town.

Wow.

Via Copenhagenize who also points us to this Google Street View of the terribly narrow downtown Main Street:

TomT thanks for pointing that out. I’ve updated the bottom photo to the actual Main Street of Black Hawk, CO.

For those visiting this site from links around the web let me give you some background on why I posted this. In Toronto, we’re headed towards an election for a new Mayor. To the surprise of many people, bike lanes have become a major issue early on in this race. While half a million people in Toronto identify themselves as casual to daily cyclists, many of the candidates are against bike lanes on major streets. While we may never see an all out ban of bicycles on city streets, I wanted to point out that a ban may not be as far-fetched as it seems.